A year after a devastating fire that wiped out 17 members of a pearl trader’s family in Gulzar Houz near the historic Charminar, the blackened legacy home still stands barricaded, frozen in time amid the bustle of the old city.
The soot-stained structure, once home to three generations including five brothers and their families of the Modi household, now remains inaccessible even to surviving family members as the investigation into the tragedy continues. For the family, closure remains elusive a year later.
“The house is in shambles. The investigation is still underway, and our home is still in police custody. We have requested the authorities multiple times to give us access to our home, but we have not received any response. Why take so long for this? We already have gone through a lot of pain, and this wait is adding to our suffering,” said Sunil Modi, one of the five brothers who survived the inferno.
Jewellers shut their shops at Gulzar Houz after the fire. | Photo Credit: Siddhant Thakur
Now living about eight kilometres away in a newly-constructed house in Attapur, Sunil said the past year had been about learning to live with loss.
On May 18, 2025, a fire broke out at a jewellery shop on the ground floor of the family’s two-storey building and rapidly spread upwards into the residential floors where family members were asleep.
By the time firefighters managed to enter the smoke-filled structure, 17 people, including eight children, had died due to suffocation and smoke inhalation.
Firefighters at work after a fire broke out in a building near Gulzar Houz in the Old City area of Hyderabad in Telangana, | Photo Credit: PTI
A year later, the market outside remains as crowded and chaotic as ever. Tourists continue to flock to the old city. Vendors shout over one another. Scooters squeeze through congested lanes. Business has resumed.
The Modis, too, restarted operations, shifting their jewellery business to shops on the opposite side of the road from their destroyed home. “It has not been easy to restart life again. Five brothers and their families lived there. Our business was there. We could never imagine our own people would die struggling for breath inside our own home,” Sunil said.
A view of the charred remains after a fire broke out at the Gulzar House near Charminar, in Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: ANI
The horror of that morning still lingers in the memories of residents and emergency responders. “That fire was something else. We struggled to get into the house. Scaling the narrow internal staircases to rescue people and bring out the bodies was a terrifying experience,” recalled Mirza Karamatullah Baig, one of the firefighters.
Old dangers persist in the old city
Yet, despite the scale of the tragedy that had briefly shaken Hyderabad into introspection, little appears to have fundamentally changed in the old city’s urban fabric.
Around Charminar and Pathergatti, residential buildings continue to double up as shops and warehouses. Buildings stand wall-to-wall with almost no setback space, entrances remain congested, while basic fire safety infrastructure such as extinguishers, ventilation systems and emergency exits is often absent.
Fire officials said the larger challenge has been changing public behaviour in areas where safety violations have long been normalised.
Panic stricken people after a fire broke out in a building near Gulzar Houz in the Old City area of Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: Ramakrishna G.
Despite increased inspections, awareness drives and mock drills after the Gulzar Houz fire, compliance remains poor. “So many notices have been issued and awareness programmes conducted, but nobody cares. The attitude is always that it will not happen to me,” Mr. Baig said.
Probe remains open a year later
Fire department officials maintained that there had been no delay in investigation from their side. “We sent our report within 10 to 15 days after examining the actual cause of the fire, details on the structure and condition of the building and vulnerabilities that may have worsened the tragedy. An expert from Nagpur also sent a report to the law and order police,” Hyderabad DFO Thagaram Venkanna said.
Charminar ACP P. Chandrashekar said the investigation had largely concluded, but the process of handing over the property remained unresolved due to concerns over structural safety.
A fire broke out in a building near Gulzar Houz in the Old City area of Hyderabad on May 18, 2025. 17 people lost their lives in the tragic incident. | Photo Credit: Ramakrishna G.
“Structural experts from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University who examined the building found it unsafe for habitation after suffering extensive internal damage in the fire. They recommended reconstruction in accordance with prescribed safety norms before the property could be handed back to the family,” the ACP said.
Police said discussions over the conditions for handover were still continuing. Meanwhile, all aspects connected to the fire remain under investigation.